To Catch A Pirate by Jade Parker

March 3rd, 2008 at 9:55am |

Audience: Middle School

Rating: A-

Synopsis:

Annalisa, her father, and a chest of the king’s treasure are making a journey across the ocean to their new home in the Caribbean when their ships is attacked by pirates. In exchange for sparing her life, the young pirate James Sterling demands a kiss. Both of them leave this encounter changed forever. James is banished from his captain’s ship for not capturing the girl. Annalisa is filled with rage because her father was imprisoned for failing to protect the treasure. When Anna goes out to seek revenge and apprehend James, she is truly taking a risk. Will it be the pirate or her heart that becomes captured?

Chatter:

(Spoiler Alerts! ) I enjoyed this story quite a bit, it’s a quick fun read. The historical content is minimal, but there’s enough to give the plot some credibility. It was interesting to read the author’s note about how after the Queen Anne’s War, many of the men who had been working for the queen were suddenly out of employment, and the work they had been doing was now illegal. It certainly gives a different spin to the idea of pirates as bad-guys; James certainly had no other choice. Although, no matter how strong a leader Nathaniel was, I very much doubt that any crew would sign on to work under a nobleman’s daughter! The fact that Annalisa became captain stretched the plausibility quite a bit.

Annalisa’s refusal to accept the role that English society granted women and James’s refusal to obey the law makes them the perfect rebellious pair. Nathaniel stands in as a counterpart to James; the type of guy that Annalisa should be attracted to, but isn’t. Luckily, the author doesn’t portray Nathaniel as a weakling, and he’s also not completely honest. He lies to Anna about his own letter of marque and isn’t above condemning James if it will make him more likely to win Anna’s hand.

There were, of course, inevitable connections between this book and Pirates of the Caribbean and the strongest parallel can be drawn between Nathaniel and Norrington. Both of them are in love with a girl who is in love with a pirate, yet both can neither forget their love, or their duty to their country.

It was interesting that Anna’s father, who is the motivation for her journey and the catalyst for most of the book, plays almost no direct role in the plot. He doesn’t criticize his daughter for her actions at sea, so it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to prevent her from joining James in a life of pirate hunting.